Sunday Shows Round-Up: May-Corbyn Brexit Talks, Tory Leadership Frenzy And Labour Anti-Semitism

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With another big Brexit showdown on the cards this week, the Sunday papers were bursting with drama and news.

From the Mail on Sunday’s claim of a ‘Bamber’ plot - a joint Tory leadership ticket comprising Boris Johnson and Amber Rudd - to the Sunday Times’ bombshell investigation into Labour anti-Semitism, alleging hundreds of complaints were plagued by delays and interference, there was a lot to talk about.

So here’s how it all panned out...

May-Corbyn Brexit talks

May’s decision to invite Corbyn to Number 10 to thrash out a Brexit deal after her withdrawal agreement was three times rejected by her own backbenchers has been met with fury by Tory Brexiteers.

Chairman of the powerful Eurosceptic Tory faction the ERG, Jacob Rees-Mogg said there was an “irony, at the very minimum, of saying one week that one thinks Mr Corbyn is dangerous and unfit for office and the next week deciding to cohabit with him”.

“Not both of those statements can be true and I think the Prime Minister risks giving a degree of credibility to Mr Corbyn and undermining the general thrust of the Conservative argument that he is a Marxist who would be dangerous to this nation’s interests,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

Shami Chakrabarti says she spoke to Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey last night and "so far our impression is that Theresa May has not moved an inch on her red lines" #Ridge.

Get live updates on today's political stories here: https://t.co/q2DW9wNbzD pic.twitter.com/J4M03Cmrud

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) April 7, 2019

Baroness Chakrabarti, meanwhile, signalled they were unlikely to produce a workable compromise.

Calling herself “one of life’s optimists”, the key Corbyn ally played down the prospect of a breakthrough.

“So far our impression is that Mrs May has not moved an inch on her red lines,” she said.

“That is worrying to me because the clock is running down.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg says Theresa May "risks giving a degree of credibility to Mr Corbyn and undermining the general thrust of the Conservative argument that he is a Marxist who would be dangerous to this nation's interests" #Ridge https://t.co/q2DW9wNbzD pic.twitter.com/RqaIogWRBi

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) April 7, 2019

Labour’s shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, who was in the room with the PM alongside Corbyn this week, was giving little away.

She said the party would continue to push for its policy of a full customs union with the EU and softened her tone on a second referendum, after appearing to have ruled out the prospect earlier in the week.

Labour was pushing for any changes to the Brexit agreement to be “entrenched” so that any potential future Conservative leader, such as Boris Johnson, would not be able to “rip up” any compromise - a so-called “Boris-proof” deal.

#Marr: Is Labour asking the government for a second #Brexit referendum

Shadow Business Sec Rebecca Long-Bailey: “Our policy asks us to ask for one” to avoid a bad deal or no dealhttps://t.co/aQG7bfCov6 pic.twitter.com/6BPeD0rseN

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 7, 2019

“What we have on the table isn’t a customs union, it certainly doesn’t meet the criteria that many business organisations such as the CBI have been asking for,” she added.

On a second referendum, she said: “We have asked the Government whether they would consider complying with our policy position and as yet we haven’t seen anything to suggest that they will.”

Further negotiations were planned, she said, but called the talks so far “disappointing”.

Both negotiating teams were “keeping our diaries as free as possible”, Long-Bailey told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, adding “we have had exchanges with the Government over the weekend, clarifying our position.”

“I don’t want to work with Jeremy Corbyn” says Andrea Leadsom

But the Leader of the House of Commons tells #Marr that failing to deliver on #Brexit would be “appalling”https://t.co/2MgoR12t0h pic.twitter.com/5i0cjz8NgJ

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 7, 2019

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said she “of course” the government did “not want to work with Jeremy Corbyn” but stressed the PM had few options left.

She said the talks were ongoing “through gritted teeth”, telling Marr: “Working with Jeremy Corbyn is not something I want to do at all, it’s not something the Prime Minister wants to do.”

“Specifically provided we are leaving the European Union then it is important that we compromise, that’s what this is about and it is through gritted teeth,” she added, “But nevertheless the most important thing is to actually leave the EU.”

She underlined her strong feeling that a second Brexit referendum would be “appalling” and that taking part in the European Parliament elections would be “utterly unacceptable”.

Challenged on whether she could accept a customs union with Brussels, she said the PM’s withdrawal agreement had a “customs arrangement” in it aimed at tariff-free trade.

“My expectation - and I’m not party to the discussions - is that the Prime Minister will only seek to agree those things that still constitute Brexit,” she told Marr.

Asked if a customs union constituted Brexit, Leadsom said: “It depends on what that means. There is a customs arrangement in the Prime Minister’s deal which I have supported every time.”

A no-deal Brexit at the end of next week would be “not nearly as grim” as many believe, Leadsom added.

No deal #Brexit would "not be nearly as bad as many like to think it would be" says Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom#Marr https://t.co/Ne0ZloZP6f pic.twitter.com/oK4mLnNch0

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 7, 2019

Tory leadership

Jacob Rees-Mogg says he thinks "very highly" of Boris Johnson and believes he could "unite the party" #Ridge.

Get live updates on today's political stories here: https://t.co/q2DW9wNbzD pic.twitter.com/s29CX0clHc

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) April 7, 2019

The Prime Minister vowed to Tory MPs last month that she would go if they backed her withdrawal agreement.

While parliament remains gridlocked on Brexit, her pledge has nonetheless triggered a flurry of speculation around who might run for Tory leader.

Rees-Mogg praised Boris Johnson, whose leadership prospects received a boost amid reports he is preparing to form an alliance with Remain-leaning Cabinet minister Amber Rudd.

“I think very highly of Boris Johnson, who managed to win in London twice in a Labour area - has a great connection with voters, said Rees-Mogg.

“He is a clear Eurosceptic but otherwise is very much in the middle of the Conservative Party. He is not particularly a factional character beyond the European issue and therefore I think could unite the party and win an election.”

Leadsom also signalled she could also be a candidate, saying “I will be thinking about that when the time comes”.

The Commons leader lost out to May in the 2016 leadership race and is a favourite among Brexiteers.

🚨Tory leadership challenge klaxon🚨

Andrea Leadsom, asked if she will run, says: "I will be thinking about that when the time comes."

— Jack Maidment (@jrmaidment) April 7, 2019

The Sunday Telegraph, meanwhile, has reported that Conservative activists are refusing to campaign for the party and donations have “dried up” due to May’s leadership.

In a letter to the PM, more than 100 current and would-be Tory councillors state that they are unable to muster the volunteers needed to effectively fight next month’s local elections because “belief in the party they joined is gone”.

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, another potential candidate for leader, slammed May’s approach as threatening to “damage the Conservatives for years”, adding that teaming up with Corbyn could be “potentially disastrous for the nation”.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said: “There is now a danger that Brexit could be lost and that the Government could fall - handing the keys to Downing Street to Corbyn.”

Labour Anti-Semitism

Shadow Attorney General Baroness Chakrabarti says her colleagues have challenged a number of allegations in @thesundaytimes, but acknowledges the Labour Party has had a problem with antisemitism #Ridge.

Get live updates on today's political stories here: https://t.co/q2DW9wNbzD pic.twitter.com/nh6UrAOXev

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) April 7, 2019

A Sunday Times investigation has claimed there are serious failings within the party’s complaints system in a bombshell report.

The paper said it had seen leaked internal documents which showed the party’s system for dealing with complaints had been beset by delays, inaction and interference from the leader’s office.

Some members investigated for posting comments online such as “Heil Hitler” and “Jews are the problem” had not been expelled despite complaints being made a year ago, while Jeremy Corbyn’s office had been involved in approving, delaying or blocking at least 101 complaints, the paper reported.

But Labour said lines from internal emails had been “selectively leaked” to “misrepresent their overall contents”, adding that it was “committed” to rooting out anti-Semitism within the party.

Baroness Chakrabarti said Corbyn was “just one person” and “won’t be leader forever” as she pleaded with the the Jewish Labour Movement, which meets this week to discuss a confidence motion in the leader members not to “personalise” the issue,

She also acknowledged that the party had a problem.

Revoke Article 50

The European Council is set to meet this week to discuss what Brexit extension, if any, the UK should be given.

As May-Corbyn talks flounder with French President Emmanuel Macron among the leaders sceptical about whether an extension should be granted without a “clear plan”, fears of a no-deal Brexit heightened last week.

Leaders, as a result, are being pressed on whether they would prefer crashing out or revoking Article 50 altogether - a move which would effectively cancel Brexit.

Leadsom told the Marr Show that a no-deal Brexit on Friday would be better than revoking Article 50 and staying in the EU if the Prime Minister’s efforts to secure an extension to the process fail.

“The efforts of the civil service have been superb in preparing us for no deal,” she said.

The UK could “survive and thrive” after a no-deal exit and it would be “not nearly as grim as many would advocate”.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss told BBC Radio Five Live’s Pienaar’s Politics that a long extension sounded like “purgatory” and that the UK should find a pathway through to a Canada-style free trade deal.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the same programme the UK should revoke Article 50 and “stop the clock”.

He said: “[Theresa May] has been negotiating with the EU and with her party and with the cabinet for 1,000 days, the idea that in just two or three days there’ll be a resolution between the Tory leadership and the Labour leadership is just not realistic.

“In those circumstances I think we should just stop the clock. We don’t want to sort of inadvertently leave the EU without any deal whatsoever or a bad deal. So let’s stop the clock, let’s revoke Article 50.”

"Let's stop the clock, let's revoke Article 50," says London Mayor Sadiq Khan.@bbc5live @SadiqKhan

— John Pienaar (@JPonpolitics) April 7, 2019

“Flexible extension sounds like purgatory to me," cabinet minister Liz Truss tells me on BBC Radio 5 Live.@bbc5live @trussliz

— John Pienaar (@JPonpolitics) April 7, 2019

Long-Bailey indicated Labour could be prepared to revoke Article 50, cancelling Brexit, if the UK was heading towards a no-deal Brexit on Friday.

“We have promised our party members and our constituents that we will do all we can to avoid a no-deal situation and it’s something that we would consider very, very strongly,” she said.

“It is a very hypothetical question”

Shadow Business Sec Rebecca Long-Bailey on revoking Article 50 to avoid a no deal #Brexit#Marr https://t.co/YDe43V1G51 pic.twitter.com/6uX3gljWSL

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 7, 2019
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